Issues and Answers

I believe the days of terrorism are about over, at least in its present form. Thanks to technological innovations by American companies, directed energy weapons have been developed and are being fielded as I write this. These weapons are capable of remotely detonating buried or hidden IED bombs, and can send energy harmlessly through clothing and flesh, but if you are a suicide bomber, your explosive vest will detonate as the invisible beam strikes you. “Active Denial” Microwave weapons can harmlessly make you feel as though you are immersed in a pot of boiling oil. Other devices based on robotics, networked artificial intelligence, and micro RPV’s will hunt you down. 

Fear is a great driver of technological innovation, but hope is the great driver of human social evolution. I am hopeful that the mass of the Muslim faithful will reign in their violent and extremist members soon. Only you can do it. We need to quickly get beyond this madness and the indiscriminate killing of innocent people. America right now is like a wounded beast, lashing out at any perceived threat, and unfortunately, we are also causing the suffering of the innocent. The world is sorely in need of the genius of the Arabic people, and indeed, all people of ‘faith’ to help us solve the truly deadly issues that confront humanity.

 

The first deadly issue is that of ignorance. Without a high level of education, people cannot maintain and advance the shaky democratic institutions that we have evolved. Representative Democracy is a poor substitute for Participatory Democracy. The big difference between the two? One has elected ‘politicians’ making decisions for you, the other allows you to vote on the issues yourself; a referendum of the masses, conducted on a daily basis. Our age of electronics and the Internet make this possible. But it will not work for the benefit of all unless everyone can make enlightened and educated decisions based on the best information available.

  

I am pleased that the $100 dollar laptop and inexpensive Smartphones are being distributed to the disenfranchised and the poor. I hope that easy and cheap access to the Internet, and the Cloud-based universities that are sure to follow will help lift us from our dismal state of ignorance and fear. 

 

The second deadly issue is the lack of an integrated worldwide bureaucracy that can deal effectively with the stunning problems that confront us, such as over-population and global pollution of the environment. I believe we are making some progress toward this goal through the much-maligned multinational corporations. I have always felt that global economic government must inevitably precede global political government. And let’s face it: Political governments, by their nature, can seldom react quickly to regional or global crises.

 

But we have to watch and police these corporations carefully. They must learn that it is improper to place the benefits of stakeholders ahead of the benefits to humanity as a whole. Greed and competition must have agreed-upon limits. Environmental costs of doing business must be a part of any published financial statements.

  

The last deadly issue I want to discuss today is the lack of a common vision of the future. What kind of future do we want our children to have? What dreams do we want to offer them? One of the fundamental tenants of the religion of my parents is that God said, “Man is, that he might have joy”. Unfortunately, he did not go on to define the word ‘Joy’. I have to assume that it is an all-encompassing philosophy governing human existence in this life, and that, perhaps, we must discover it for ourselves. For me, this means that philosophers, poets, musicians, and artists, must get off of their butts and show us the way, as they always have done. Please do it soon.